Paulo Fonseca has turned down the vacant manager’s job at Everton job to leave the path clear for Sam Allardyce to be appointed, according to Football Insider.
The reliable news site claim that Portugese Fonseca has been offered the chance to succeed Ronald Koeman but turned it down to stay in Ukraine with Shakhtar Donetsk.
Football Insider report that the snub from the 44-year-old means Everton will turn to former England manager Sam Allardyce to finally fill their managerial void and he could be appointed as early as today (Wednesday).
Fonseca, who has just over six months to run on his current deal, has impressed at Shakhtar since taking charge of the Ukrainian club in May 2016, boasting an impressive record of 56 wins in 73 games.
He is regarded as one of the best young managers in Europe after making a huge impact at Shakhtar, where he won the league title in his debut campaign and has taken the club to verge of the Champions League knockout stages.
OPINION
It would have been a remarkable bolt from the blue had Fonseca landed the job. He had not even been mentioned in dispatches up until a Times report on Tuesday morning that stated he was on a three-man shortlist along with Allardyce and Martin O’Neill. Football Insider’s revelation that the managerial rising star has rejected the Merseysiders is a shock – they are low in the Premier League table but are ambitious and have money to spend – and yet another huge blow in their bid to adequately replace Koeman. Fonseca is nearly 20 years younger than Allardyce and regarded as a coach with his best years ahead of him rather than behind. Some might scoff that he does not know the English game, but then neither did Jose Mourinho or Pep Guardiola or Mauricio Pochettino or Arsene Wenger before they pitched up in England. Shakhtar’s Champions League record this season – they are set to qualify for the knockout stages ahead of Italian league leaders Napoli and Feyenoord – has made Europe sit up and take notice. Fonseca has clearly built something special and would have been a far more exciting appointment than Allardyce.